Turn indicator



Oct. 9, 1934. A. BRIECHLE ET AL TURN INDICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 16, 1933 k am mwwm B n m ww m fl H 7 I j MM/1 14M ATTORNEY Oct.9,1934. A. BRIECHLE ET L 1,976,213

TURN INDICATOR Filed June 16, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BATTERY IN VEN OBS WBY m 2* W ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 9, 1934 UNITED STATES TURN INDICATORAmbrosius Briechle, Henry Albert, and Alois Stauber, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application June 16, 1933, Serial No. 676,058

'7 Claims.

This invention relates in general to signal apparatus and moreparticularly to an improved device adapted for use by motor vehicles toindicate the direction in which the operator has an intention to turnwhile driving.

An object of the invention is to provide such a signal that will moreeffectively indicate the operators intention to turn in one direction orthe other, so that such indication will be unmistakable and entirelydevoid of confusion to operators of vehicles in the rear.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a signal that willnot only be in the form of a pointer in the direction of the intendedturn but also a signal which will actually physically travel in thatdirection as well.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, convenient andinexpensive device in the form of an easily applied motor vehicleaccessory that will have the desired effect of two series of arrowsmovable in opposite directions, and to so construct the device that inreality the vertical dimensions of the accessory will be no greater thanthat usually required by a single arrow or single horizontal seriesthereof and by a simple control arrows may be set in motion andilluminated so as to be visible corresponding to the rotation of themeans carrying them, which rotation and direction of rotation may beunder such simple manual control for the desired purpose.

It is well known that others in the art have employed electrical devicesfor turn indicators for motor vehicles and that even in some instancesilluminated arrows have been employed, some of the arrows beingstationary and merely illuminated, while others have been made up of aseries of sections which are progressively i1- luminated in such amanner as to give an illusory appearance or" motion. These devices,however, have been found to be inadequate for the purpose for which theywere intended and with the end in view of perfecting a device of thisclass, it is proposed to employ an electrical system and to provide apair of drums rotatable in opposite directions, one being a driving drumand the other an idler, the drums to carry an inner and an outer beltwith a series of registering apertures or transparent and opaqueportions formed therein so as to result in an illuminated arrow pointingin the direction of travel of the belts.

It is further proposed'to also employ such an electrical circuit thatwill selectively set oneoi the drums'in motion in either directiomwhichin turn will drive the other drum in the same direction, there beingintroduced a certain lost motion so that as the drums move relative toeach other before the drive takes place one set of arrowheads is madetransparent and illuminated while the set pointing in the oppositedirection is made opaque and non-illuminated and vice versa, the samearrow stern being utilized regardless of which set of arrowheads isilluminated.

This form of device constitutes a compact accessory and gives anunmistakable indication of the operators intention to turn, in that thearrow will be pointing in the direction of the intended turn, will beilluminated and will actually physically travel in the direction inwhich v it is pointing.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides inthe combination of parts and in the details of constructionhereinafterset forth in the following specification and appended claims,certain embodiments of the invention'being illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the device with the cover removed;

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the device with the side of thecasing removed;

Figure 3 is a detail view over the drums which carry the indicatingarrows, the drums being partly broken away.

Figure 4 is a view in section taken along line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view in section taken along line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is. a wiring diagram or the electrical system for controllingthe operation of the device.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the device is particularlyadapted for use on the rear or front or both automotive vehicles andemploys a casing 1 which is removably secured to the rear of theautomobile in any of the well knownconventional manners. Inside of theeasing the conventional stop light may be employed and may consist ofany well known design.

In carrying out the invention the casing may be of no greater heightthan the usual accessory of this general nature, while the arrow bearingbelt is adapted by its rotation to give the desired indication of a turnin either direction. Figure 3 shows an outer belt 2 and an inner belt 3slidably rotatably mounted therein. The opaque outer belt is providedwith a series of horizontal transparent portions 4 which may becentrally H located with diagonal transparent portions 5 110 and 6 whichmerge to form an arrowhead pointing to the left and diagonal transparentportions 7 and 8 which merge to form an arrowhead pointing to the right.

The effect of this is to provide a double arrow pointing in oppositedirections, the arrowheads utilizing a common stem portion 4. Thus ifone of the arrowheads is rendered opaque, the light from the interior orthe casing illuminates an arrow pointing only in one direction. In orderto bring this about the inner belt 3 may be transparent and providedwith opaque arrowheads so positioned that under relative movementbetween the belts some of the opaque arrowheads. will come into registrywith the transparent ones so as to exclude the illumination from thelight source while other opaque and transparent arrowheads which havebeen in registry will be moved out of registry with each other so as toallow light to pass through the transparent arrowhead. More specificallyas the belts rotate in a clockwise direction the arrowheads pointing inthat direction are illuminated while the arrowheads pointing in acounterclockwise direction are rendered opaque, and vice versa.

Referring now to Figure 3, the inner belt 3 may have affixed thereto aclip 9 extending outwardly through an elongated slot 10 in the outerbelt 2. Assuming for instance the outer belt to be the driving memberfor the inner belt, the inner belt being loosely carried thereby. As theouter beltrotates counterclockwise the clip abuts the left end or theslot 10 and then carries the inner belt along as a driven member. Asthis abutment occurs, the transparent arrowheads 5 and 6 in the outerbelt are out of alignment with the opaque arrowheads 5 and 6 in theinner belt, so that these arrowheads with the stem portions 4 indicate acounterclockwise rotation and a consequent indication of a left turn ofthe vehicle. The slot 10 is of such length that the movement of the clip9 from the right hand extremity to the left hand extremity, as shown inFigure 3, makes for the rotation of the transparent arrowheads 5 and 6at the registry with the opaque arr wheads '5 and 6. It thereforefollows that, in case it is desired to give an indi cation of a rightturn of the motor vehicle if suitable driving power is brought to act onthe inner belt the latter will be driven in a clockwise direction butthe outer belt will not be moved until the clip 9 engages the right handside of the slot 10 and the corresponding relative rotation between thetwo belts is sufficient to bring the transparent arrowheads 7 and 8 outof registry with the opaque arrowheads '7 and 8 and at the same timebring the transparent arrowheads 5 and 6 into registry with the opaquearrowheads 5 and 6 so as to exclude the latter from view while allowingthe light to pass through the former to give an indication of a righthand turn.

In order to impart motion to the inner belt there may be provided asuitable reversible electrical motor indicated at 11 and providing thesame with a driving worm 12 which meshes with gear 13 mounted on a shaft14 which carries a reel 15 so as to constitute the driving reel. Figure6 shows a conventional wiring diagram for reversing the motor so as toimpart a rotary motion to the driving drum in either of two'selecteddirections. In this figure there is diagrammatically illustrated aswitch including a lever 23 pivotally carried at 25 on a suitable casingand carrying a member 26 which is moved by the operation of the lever.When the top portion of the lever 23 is moved to the left the member 26engages the contact maker 27 to the right to make contact with members28 and 29 to complete the circuit for driving the driving drum in onedirection. Correspondingly a movement of the lever 23 in the oppositedirection will cause the member 26 to engage the member 30 so as to makecontact with members 31 and 32 to complete the circuit for driving thedriving drum in the other direction. There may also be provided an idlerreel 16 loosely mounted on a shaft 1'7 so that the belts may be placedover the reels so as to be driven in either desired direction. As statedbefore, the device may include a unitary casing with a compartment toreceive the motor and also one or more lamps l8 and 19 over which aplate may be placed to constitute a conventional form of stop light. Theremainder of the casing may be provided with any suitable plate of amberor other color, there being suitable provision for a relatively largerlamp 20 fitted in a socket 21 and provided with suitable lead wires 22which may be switch controlled by any suitable arrangement. The beltsare adapted to exclude from View from the exterior any of the lightemanating from lamp bulb 20 except through the arrow stems l or theselected series of arrowheads. It will be understood that thesearrowheads are arranged in series around the inner periphery of thebelts and that only one series of arrowheads will be illuminated at onetime, that is to say, as the inner belt is actually driving the outerbelt in a counterclockwise direction, the arrowheads pointing in thatcorresponding direction will be illuminated to indicate a left hand turnwhile when the belts are rotating in a clockwise direction thosearrowheads will become non-illuminated and the other series ofarrowheads pointing in a clockwise direction will be illuminated so asto give an indication of a right hand turn.

We claim:

1. A vehicle signal device comprising a casing having a transparentopening, a reversible electrical. source of power, illuminating meanswithin said casing, a driving drum and an idler drum, connectionsbetween said source of power and said driving drum so as to impartrotary motion thereto in opposite directions, a pair of relativelymovable concentrically arranged belts carried by saiddrums, transparentsignal arrows carried by one of said belts including arrowheads pointingin opposite directions with a stei common to both, opaque arrowheadscarried by the other belt, a connecting drive between said belts havinga limited movement in either direction before efiecting a drive so as toallow for limited relative movement between the belts in order to effecta registry with the casing opening of the opaque arrowheads with thosetransparent arrowheads pointing in the direction opposite to that of therotation of the drums and to efiect a non-registry of the opaquearrowheads with those transparent arrowheads passing the casing openingand point in the direction of rotation of said belts to comprise aseries of bodily movable arrowheads which are illuminated as viewed fromthe exterior and which are pointing in the direction of rotation of thebelts to constitute a signal for the turning of the vehicle in acorresponding direction.

' 2. A vehicle signal device comprising a casing with a transparentopening, a reversible electrical source of power, a driving drum and anidler drum, a belt and a member relatively movable therewith arrangedabout and carried by said drums, means for limiting the extent of saidrelative movement, driving connections between said source of power andsaid driving drum so as to impart rotary motion thereto in oppositedirections, illuminating means interior of said casing, signal arrowscarried by said belt pointing in opposite directions, opaque portionscarried by said relatively movable member for allowing the illuminationof the arrows pointing in the direction corresponding to that of therotation of said belt and for preventing the illumination of the arrowspointing in the opposite direction as viewed from the exterior.

3. A vehicle signal device comprising a casing having a transparentopening, a reversible electrical source of power, a driving drum and anidler drum, connections between said source of power and said drivingdrum so as to impart rotary motion thereto in opposite directions, abelt and a member relatively movable therewith arranged about said drumsand carried thereby, transparent signal arrows carried by said beltincluding arrow heads pointing in opposite directions with a stem commonto both, opaque arrow heads carried by said relatively movable member, aconnecting drive between said belt and said relatively movable memberhaving a limited movement in either direction before eiiecting a driveso as to allow for a limited relative movement between said belt andsaid relatively movable member in order to effect a registry of theopaque arrow heads with those transparent arrow heads pointing in adirection opposite to that of the rotation of the drums and to eiTect anon-registry or" the opaque arrow heads with those transparent arrowheads pointing in the,

direction of rotation of said belt to comprise a series of bodilymovable arrow heads which are illuminated as viewed from the exteriorand which are pointing in the direction of rotation of the belts toconstitute a signal for the turning of the vehicle in a correspondingdirection.

4. A vehicle signal device comprising a casing with a transparent face,a reversible source of energy and a belt driven thereby, a second beltand a sliding connection between the same and said first belt foreffecting a driving connection between the belts in either direction butallowing a limited relative movement therebetween, illuminating meanswithin said casing, said members being rotatable upon a substantiallyvertical common axis, said members carrying a series of spacedindicating arrowheads pointing in opposite directions with interveningcommon stems, control means for said source of energy for selectivelydriving said members in either direction together at will and forrendering the illumination means visible through the casing and throughthe spaced bodily laterally moving arrows travelling in the direction ofrotation of the belts and concealing from view the illumination meansthrough the arrows travelling in that direction but pointing in theopposite direction.

5. A vehicle signal device comprising a casing with a transparentopening, a driving drum and an idler drum, belts carried by said drums,an electrical motor and switch means for reversing the same, drivingconnection between said motor and said driving drum for driving saidbelts in opposite directions, signal arrows carried by said beltspointing in opposite directions, said belts having opaque andtransparent portions, illuminating means interior of said casing, andmeans for selectively disposing opaque and transparent portions as toallow the rays of said illuminating means to illuminate the arrows inregistry with said casing opening and pointing in the direction oftravel of said belts and to prevent such illumination of the arrowspointing in the opposite direction, as viewed from the exterior.

6. A vehicle signal device comprising a casing having a transparentopening, a reversible electrical source of power, a driving drum and anidler drum, belts carried by said drums, driving connections betweensaid source of power and said driving drum so as to impart rotary motionthereto in opposite directions, illuminating means within said casing,said belts having opaque and transparent portions, signal arrows carriedby one of said belts pointing in opposite directions and means carriedby the other belt for disposing said opaque and transparent portions soas to bring about a registry of the illumination means, the casingopening and a consequent illumination of the arrows pointing in thedirection corresponding to that of the rotation of said belts and toprevent the illumination of the arrows pointing in the oppositedirection, as viewed from the exterior.

7. A vehicle signal device comprising a casing 115 with a transparentopening, a driving drum and an idler drum, a belt and a memberrelatively movable therewith, arranged about and carried by said drums,said belt and member having transparent and opaque portions, positivemeans 120 for limiting said relative movement, an electrical motor andswitch means for reversing the same,

a driving connection between said motor and said driving drum fordriving said belt and said relatively movable member in oppositedirections, 125 signal arrows carried by said belts pointing in oppositedirections, illuminating means interior of said casing, and means fordisposing said opaque portions as to allow the rays of light from saidilluminating means to illuminate the 130 arrows pointing in thedirection of travel of said belt, and to prevent the illumination of theother arrows, as viewed from the exterior.

AMBROSIUS BRIECHLE.

HENRY ALBERT. ALOIS STAUBER.

